Hotel of the Week: A Contemporary Hideaway with Nods to Greek Mythology Opens on the Coast of Corsica
Mylos, a family-owned hotel in Cargèse with dazzling interiors by Dorothée Meilichzon, combines local history and panoramic sea views
From the stunning rooftop restaurant of Mylos—a new contemporary boutique hotel built into terraced slope overlooking the seaside village of Cargèse—there’s a rare sweeping vista of five crumbling honey-colored stone Genoese towers, scattered across the neighboring foothills. This was no accident, as architect Michel de Rocca Serra of Orma Architettura explains: the hotel’s location, once an empty plot of fragrant shrubland, provides plunging coastal views from every corner of the multi-levelled building, whose sleek razor-sharp lines and green roof blend harmoniously with the surrounding landscape.
“We excavated the ocher-colored earth that was on the site and mixed it with the concrete—including chips of broken orange rooftiles—to make it look as if the hotel has always been here,” de Rocca Serra adds.
And looking down at Cargèse—a tranquil little beach town with a population of 1,000 residents—it’s easy to spot the village’s architectural oddity: face to face to with the neo-classical Latin-rite Church of the Assumption is an ornate Greek Catholic church, built by a colony of 17th-century refugees fleeing the Turks, who settled there permanently. So, chances are that many guests—before their arrival—may be unaware that the hotel’s name, Mylos (“mill” in Greek), inspired by vestiges of an old mill near the property, celebrates this dual heritage in a variety of ways.
French designer Dorothée Meilichzon, who worked closely with the architect, invented a subtle fusion of chic Corsican and Greek inspired interiors using natural materials from the region. Across all 35 rooms—25 in the main building and 10 external suites, many with private patios—are decorative nods to local history, from the headboards and mirrors shaped like half-moon cut-outs reminiscent of a traditional shepherd’s hat, to green marble bathrooms and wave-like friezes that conjure the jade shallows of the Mediterranean. For an added Greek feel, Meilichzon used columns, Ionic pillars, and cave-like alcoves throughout the hotel, as well as playful mythological-inspired details, like tables with amphora shaped handles.
Beyond the reception, the interior outdoor lobby, with a gurgling stone fountain and magnificent Belhambra tree, resembles a mini-village square for lounging. There are paths of landscaped gardens —a mix of olive and fig trees, myrtle, immortelle flowers and lentisk—but the biggest draw is up one more level: to the sun-soaked deck and long infinity pool lined with Meilichzon’s thick saffron-colored mattresses and Pierre Frey pillows, where it’s easy to get lost in a novel or gaze at the horizon.
For lunch or dinner, guests climb the stone staircase that leads to the panoramic restaurant Teos, headed by the renowned local ice-cream maker and chef, Pierre Geronimi, who dishes up delicious nibbles—homemade migliacci Corsican cheese bread wrapped with dried chestnut tree leaves—and creative Mediterranean fare like Sardinian fregola pasta salad with fresh white cheese (produced from the shepherd down the road), kumquats, and a dollop of beet/raspberry ice cream.
The restaurant’s sculptural whitewashed interiors feature eye-catching plaster alcoves—a stylish tribute to a home designed by French architect Jacques Couëlle in Cargèse—with fossil-like colored glass inserts, plus bespoke chestnut wood chairs and curvy tables. For the sea-facing long terrace, Meilichzon combined white marble tables with powder-blue banquettes (that match the sky and sea), where guests linger over after-dinner fig Negronis to take in the spectacular sunsets.
With a beach within walking distance and the wild red cliffs, calanques, and translucent creeks of Piana only a 20-minute boat-ride away, this off-the-tourist-radar gem, open year-round, is a sure-fire contender for the island’s coolest barefoot luxury destination.
“All around the world, everybody knows about Cargèse—it was a popular resort town in the 60s,” says Mylos’s owner, who has a family home in the village. “But before, nobody ever stayed because there was nowhere to spend the night. The idea was to create a lifestyle hotel that will hopefully help upgrade the area even more and put this beautiful corner the coast back in the spotlight.”